Microcredentials and Digital Badges: Opening Higher Education in South Africa through Innovative Recognition

The traditional South African university degree programme – spanning multiple years, premised on students having a strong educational foundation – is in dire need of a rethink in a country where 39% of university students in contact programmes fail to graduate within six years of initial enrolment and a shocking 80% of distance learners fail to do so within ten years (DHET 2020). Such programmes often inadvertently reinforce the inequalities and injustices they are meant to overcome. Part of the problem is structural. A three- or four-year commitment to a singular form of recognition (a degree) in a context where so many students cannot reach the finish line is wasteful and punitive. The ironic result is that many students end up with debts for degrees they never obtain and nothing to show on their CVs for what they learned.